


One Day at a Time

by SperaStella



Series: Damerey Creations Week 2020 [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Awkwardness, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Memory Loss, Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Nightmares, Planet Jakku (Star Wars), Strangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27231577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SperaStella/pseuds/SperaStella
Summary: Rey has lived on Jakku her entire life. Each day is a different challenge while she waits for her parents to return.Everything changes, however, when she comes across an unconscious man in the smoking wreckage of a crashed ship.Helping Poe recover, Rey discovers he has lost almost all of his memories in the crash. He has no recollection of who he is, where he comes from, or how he arrived on Jakku.Unsure what to do next, Rey and Poe focus on the only thing that matters: surviving.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Series: Damerey Creations Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985074
Comments: 13
Kudos: 60





	1. Survive

**Author's Note:**

> This is a DCW fusion of day 3 Canon AU, day 4 hurt/comfort, and day 5 amnesia.
> 
> Since TROS came out last year, I have been very nervous about writing a fic inside canon but I was really interested in this concept and decided to give it a go. I also originally wrote this as a one-shot, then added two more chapters, and now I'm considering making it more. Let me know what you think in the comments.

_This will begin to make things right._

_You have to hide._   
_You have to leave._

_You take this, it’s safer with you than it is with me._   
_I’ll come back for you, it’ll be alright._

_Look how old you’ve become._   
_Something far worse has happened to you._

_So who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?_   
_The old man gave it to you._

_I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance onboard._   
_The Resistance will not be intimidated by you._

_This is a rescue, I’m helping you escape. Can you fly a tie fighter?_   
_I can fly anything._

_Finn. I’m gonna call you Finn is that alright?_   
_Finn. Yeah. Finn. I like that._   
_I’m Poe. Poe Dameron._

_Where are you going?_   
_We’re going back to Jakku, that's where._   
_That droid has a map that leads straight to Luke Skywalker._

_Poe?! Poe?! Poe?_

Rey loads the parts she salvaged into her speeder. She savors the last few droplets of water from her canteen while checking the position of the sun. It had been a long day and she needs to get home before dark. With any luck, the parts scavenged today will buy her enough portions to last three days. Wrapping her face and putting on her goggles, she hops on the speeder and zooms off into the distance.

This past week has been especially bad. Unkar changed the prices again and she had to ration portions the last four days. She was almost too exhausted to even come out to scavenge today. It was a common misconception by many off-worlders that Jakku was rugged and dangerous due to lawlessness, but that was only part of the story. The truth is starvation killed more people than anything else in this wasteland. 

Rey was no stranger to starvation. Several years ago, she once went a whole week without eating when the power cells she scavenged turned out to be duds. To this day, she thinks Unkar only gave her a few portions so she could continue to scavenge for him. The Crolute was a special kind of evil who took pleasure in watching others suffer. 

As she nears her home, Rey spots a cloud of smoke just over one of the hills in the distance. _That’s odd_ , she thinks. No one but the Teedos should be out here and they wouldn’t crash anything that could make a cloud that large. Deciding to investigate in order to see who might be encroaching near her territory (and possibly to find anything valuable), she changes direction to race off towards the smoke. When Rey finally makes it over the ridge she is stunned at the sight before her.

A TIE fighter. 

An actual TIE fighter had crashed in the valley below. 

Dismounting her speeder and grabbing her quarterstaff, she runs towards the wreckage. A TIE fighter in this condition probably still has all kinds of parts she could scavenge, maybe even batteries and power cells. She begins to rummage through the debris while scooping up various parts like fuel injectors, pistons, and capacitors. Unfortunately, her luck is short-lived.

Attempting to put out the fire in the pilot’s seat causes the sand beneath the fighter to shift. Rey would recognize that movement anywhere: quicksand. She hastily retreats as the ship in front of her slowly sinks into the desert. 

_Kriffing hell._

So many good parts wasted.

She begins to scout the remaining safe area around the sinking fighter for additional debris that might be valuable. Most of what remains, unfortunately, proves to be pretty useless. 

That is until she notices an unrecognizable black object at the top of the other side of the hill. Climbing the ridge carefully, she takes a closer look. 

“No way,” she whispers aloud when reaching the summit. 

She tries poking with her staff. No movement. She thinks about reaching down to get a closer look, but years of self-preservation instincts kick in and she takes a step back instead. Poking with her staff, harder this time, also has no effect. The third time has the desired effect when **he** lets out a barely audible moan. 

Rey stares down at the unconscious **man** who is somehow still alive. 

Taking a few steps closer, she pushes on his shoulder with her foot and rolls him over on his back. The man looks like he was on the losing side of a fight recently. His face and clothes are stained with dried blood and there are more than a few cuts and bruises on his visible skin. He’s wearing a cream shirt, dark grey pants, and black boots — nothing that would indicate anything about who he is or where he comes from. He also doesn’t appear to have anything valuable on his person.

She should probably leave.

Yep.

Whatever happened here isn’t her problem. This man, whoever he is, isn’t her problem. And if anyone comes looking for this TIE fighter, she definitely does not want to be around for that potential problem. Rey certainly has enough problems of her own without adding to the list. 

She takes a few steps back in the direction of her speeder before stopping, turning around half-way, and staring at the unconscious man still lying in the sand. Nineteen years of experience living in this wasteland is telling her to leave. Why then is she hesitating?

_It makes no sense._

Turning her back, she storms off in the direction of her speeder on the opposite hill. Unlocking the vehicle and firing up the engines, she once again wraps her hair and puts on her goggles. Taking a deep breath in, she is about to pull down on the throttle when she freezes in place.

_She can’t explain it._

Rey turns the speeder and shoots up to the opposite hill where the man is lying unconscious. She dismounts and steps closer to him. 

_It’s just a feeling._

Groaning, she grabs his legs and drags him closer to her speeder. She tries lifting him up a little at a time, but the man is deceptively heavy. After much difficulty, she is able to get him draped over the front of her seat. It doesn’t look comfortable, but it’s the best she could do given the circumstances. She slides onto the back part of the seat and fires up the engines again. Placing one hand on the controls and the other on his back, she speeds off towards her home.

This was definitely not how Rey saw today going. 

It was already dark by the time she made it back home. She rushed to unhook her day’s haul from the speeder and bring it inside. Once her charge is secured, she returns outside and stares at the man lying folded over her speeder. 

Sighing, she grabs his arms and pulls him backward. Rey pulls too hard and quickly loses her grip, causing him to fall hard on his back in the sand. It takes significant effort, but she eventually drags him inside the AT-AT and lays him down on the far wall. Thankfully, the man remained unconscious throughout the whole endeavor. Who knows how many additional scrapes and bruises he now has thanks to her efforts. 

She sets to making herself a half-portion to eat while marking off another day on her wall. It wasn’t exactly appetizing, but the portion did the job of staving off hunger for the time being. Several years ago when she was younger, an off-world trader had come by Niima Outpost and gifted her a circular plant to eat. The sweet sugary taste and wet juices of the plant were the most delicious thing she has ever eaten.

Glancing over at the man lying on the floor, she reluctantly scoots over to check on him. He looks no better or worse than when she found him. Grabbing a spare cloth, she begins to wipe some of the dirt and dried blood from his face. She pauses a minute later to study the contours of his face and determines, despite his condition, it was nice to look at. 

This is crazy. 

He could be a pirate, bounty hunter, or some kind of criminal and here she is bringing him into her home. Shaking her head, Rey grabs her quarterstaff and lowers herself down into the padded area on the other side of the room she calls a bed. Peeking over one more time at the man, she can see the faintest rise and fall of his chest. At least he’s not dead yet. Closing her eyes and trying to get some sleep, Rey prays he stays unconscious through the evening. The last thing she needs is him waking up in the middle of the night and stealing her stuff.

The morning sun comes peeking through the holes in the AT-AT to wake her up. Rey is normally a light sleeper and fast riser, she had to be living on her own all these years, but she practically jolts awake remembering what happened the day before. Turning her head slowly, she spots him still lying on the floor on the other side of the room. It doesn’t appear as though he moved at all in the night.

Thank the stars. At least one thing has gone right.

Rey tries not to think about the unconscious man in her home the rest of the morning. She goes about her business sorting through the parts she scavenged the day before. There were a few pumps, filters, and impellers that she may be able to trade for a few portions. Save the fuel injectors she had managed to salvage from the TIE fighter wreckage, her haul proved more quantity than quality. Still, she was confident with the additional parts from the tie-fighter she could get those three days worth of portions she wanted. 

This suddenly brought her back to the current problem at hand: what to do about the man.

She needed to head into Niima Outpost in order to trade her parts to Unkar Plutt, but Rey didn’t feel comfortable leaving the man here for several hours alone. What if he woke up? What if he stole some of her things? What if he worked for slavers who he brought back to find her? She stares at him still asleep or unconscious. He seems to have a kind face, but if there is one thing Rey has learned as a young woman surviving on her own is that you can’t blindly trust kind faces.

Furrowing her brow, she grabs her makeshift peeling knife in one hand and pushes down the man’s shoulder with the other.

Nothing.

She tries again, shaking him this time. 

“Hey,” she says timidly at first. 

“Mmm” he moans but his eyes remain closed. 

Shaking him even harder, she practically yells, “Hey wake up.” 

That seems to do the trick as the man’s face scrunches and he lets out another moan. Very slowly, his eyes open and squints, adjusting to the current lighting of the interior of the AT-AT.

Rey holds her breath and watches him with interest. His brown eyes begin to dart around the room before settling on her. There is something both warm and distant in his gaze. He moans and brings a hand up to his head.

“Easy,” she warns, “You are pretty banged up.” 

“Where am I?”

“Goazon Badlands”

“Huh?”

“Jakku.”

When he doesn’t seem to understand, Rey tries a different approach.

“I’m Rey,” she states plainly as a matter of fact. “What’s your name?”

The man looks at her like she just asked him to calculate all the hyperspace routes between Coruscant and the Outer Rim without using a nav computer. He rubs his forehead and groans again. 

“I-I um….” He squints and looks lost in thought for a moment. “I think...Poe? I think my name is Poe?”

Rey takes a deep breath. “Where are you from Poe?

“I um...I don’t know”

“How did you get here?”

“I...I can’t remember...”

She frowns. This man, Poe, appears to be suffering from more than just physical injuries. He tries to lift himself up but only manages to get a few inches off the ground before sinking back down when the pain becomes too much. Clearly, though, his physical injuries are still quite serious. Rey puts down the makeshift knife she had been holding behind her back. 

“You should lie still and rest,” she says softly, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment. “You are still in pretty bad shape.” She continues, “I need to go into town for a few hours. If you are going to stay here can you um...not steal my stuff when I’m gone?”

He closes his eyes and leans his head back to lie down. “Don’t think I’ll be going anywhere any time soon.”

Unsure how to respond, Rey gets up and begins to pack her things for the trip to Niima Outpost. 

***

The sun is coming down as Rey rides back home on her speeder. The trip to Niima Outpost went better than anticipated. Unkar Plutt gave her **eight** portions for the parts she scavenged the day before. Expectedly, the fuel injectors from the TIE fighter proved to be most valuable. When Unkar inquired where she had found parts in such good condition, Rey lied and gave him a non-answer. This omission later turned out to be the right move. 

The gossip among the various scavengers, traders, and other locals of Niima Outpost was that the militaristic First Order had suddenly increased their presence on Jakku. Theories as to why the First Order was on Jakku ranged from possibly taking control of the planet to searching for a lost hidden weapon and everything in between. The prospect of the First Order wanting to take control of the planet made no sense to Rey. Jakku was a literal desert wasteland. 

In any case, increased First Order activity was definitely one explanation for the crashed TIE fighter she had found. How and why the fighter crashed were two things she chose not to think about too much. Less easy to ignore was the man she found at the crash site: Poe. Judging by his lack of strict military uniform, Rey didn’t think he was First Order, but that still didn’t make him exactly safe either. Hopefully, a few hours of rest will have jogged Poe’s memories and she can finally get some answers from him.

Everything looks normal when she arrives home. Dismounting she begins to wonder if Poe is even still here. He wasn’t looking good when she left, but maybe he got better and decided to leave. How would she feel if he did leave? What if he stayed? Rounding the corner and ducking inside, she doesn’t have to wait long to find out.

Rey finds Poe in the exact same spot she left him several hours ago. His lack of movement was honestly a bit unnerving. Hopefully, he didn’t die or something. She didn’t want to have to deal with the hassle of dragging a dead body out of here. 

“Hello?” she calls to him. 

“Mmmm,” he moans, turning his head to look at her for a moment. “Hey.”

So not dead. That is a relief. 

“How are you feeling?”

“A little better but still not great.” He leans forward and sits up, steadying himself with his hands. The way his arms hold up his chest distracts her for a second as she watches him move better than he did a few hours ago.

Rey sets her portions away and fiddles with one of her tools. Social interactions were never one of her strengths and now that he was awake she found herself very unsure what to say. It also didn’t help that he was watching her with the same mixed expression from earlier. It wasn’t a nefarious gaze at least, she had plenty of experience dealing with her fair share of those growing up. Rather, he had a look of innocent curiosity more than anything else.

“So…did you happen to remember anything about where you from, how you got here or anything like that?”

“Sorry no,” he frowns. “Do you know what happened to me?”

“I’m not sure exactly,” she says while beginning to make a portion for dinner. “I found you unconscious at the crash site of a starfighter several kilometers from here. The ship was completely wrecked and then consumed by quicksand, but it seems like you somehow survived...albeit not entirely unscathed.” 

She leaves out the part about the ship being a TIE fighter and the gossip she overheard at Niima Outpost. Better to be safe than sorry in case he is affiliated with the First Order. Cutting the portion bread in two, Rey moves over to him and hands him one of the pieces. “Here.”

“What is it?” he asks, inspecting the half-portion as he props himself up on the wall.

“Food.”

Poe brings it up to his mouth slowly and then takes a small bite. She watches him chew then swallow. 

“Ugh,” he groans with a displeased expression on his face. “That is awful!”

Rey can’t help herself, she laughs at his reaction. “Yeah, it’s definitely not great,” she grins, taking a bite of her own half-portion. 

“How can you eat this stuff?”

“You get used to it,” she shrugs. 

“I hope not,” he jokes, taking another bite. 

They sit in silence as they finish their food. It was more than strange having someone in her home like this. It was even more strange being around another person for so long. Especially someone like him. Eating gave her a chance to study Poe more closely. 

She pieced together that he was probably older than her based on his rugged features and lines around the corners of his eyes. When he took the half-portion from her, she noticed calluses on his hands indicating he probably worked with hands. His clothes, while not lavish, also seemed to indicate that he wasn’t dirt poor and dressing in spare materials. 

He finishes up his share of food and looks at her with a melancholy expression. “Hey Rey...um...since I crashed here and neither of us really know what’s going on, what’s going to happen to me next?” 

_Good question._

Rey frowns. Truthfully, she had not thought far ahead. What was a definite certainty though was that she only had enough food to last the both of them maybe three more days. So either she would need to scavenge more soon or he would need to leave. 

“I think you should focus on resting and getting on your feet.” 

She puts away her utensils and marks another day on her wall before settling into her padded sleep area with her quarterstaff in her hands. Poe seems to notice but doesn’t say anything as he also lays back down on the ground. 

“Hey Rey,” he says just as she is about to settle down for the night. Looking over toward him, she sees his head turned to her. “Thank you.” 

Whether it was hearing him say her name, his thanks, or both, her mouth inches upward into a short smile. 

“Get some rest Poe. We can deal with the rest when the time comes.”

_One day at a time._

That’s how she survived this long. Why should this predicament be any different?


	2. Scavenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey tries to find some semblance of normal despite the very abnormal man who has literally crashed into her life.

Rey wakes up to find him missing.

The spot on the floor Poe was lying is bare with no trace of the man who once occupied it. Rey jumps up and grabs her quarterstaff out of habit, quickly surveying her surroundings. Rushing over to the drawer, she checks the portions she stowed away yesterday evening. Thankfully, all seven portions are still accounted for. It also appears nothing else is stolen or out of place. 

Sighing, she relaxes a bit. 

With that worry out of the way, her mind instantly shifts to Poe. 

He didn’t seem well enough to be moving last night did he? Where would he even go? 

More importantly, why should she care? 

It’s not like she owed him anything. She found him, he was hurt, she helped, that’s it. End of story. 

Why then does she have that same nagging feeling from before about leaving him?

_That damn feeling._

Furrowing her brow, she maneuvers her way outside, the morning sunshine causing her to squint as she is hit with the hot desert air. Raising a hand to her forehead Rey gazes off into the distance trying to spot any trace of him. No outlines on the horizon or footprints in the sand indicating anyone had walked away.

_Kriffing hell._

Sinking her head, she turns around. 

“Morning.” 

Looking up, Rey spots Poe sitting atop the AT-AT with his legs dangling off the side. 

“Ahh,” she flinches, startled to see him. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah um...I just thought you had left.” 

She watches as he gingerly lowers himself down to the ground. His boots thud in the sand and he winces in apparent pain. 

“Where would I have gone?”

Now that he is standing, she can finally get a full measure of him. Poe seems to be a bit taller than her, though not by much, and he has black hair which curls nicely at the edges around his face. His eyes meet hers and are still a puzzling mix of warmth and apathy.

“Um...I...” she stutters. 

Unable to find a suitable answer to his question she tries one of her own: “How are you feeling? You look...better on your feet.”

“Yeah, I think I’m feeling better,” he says looking down at his boots and rubbing the back of his neck. “Still quite sore though, so I don’t think I’ll be running any time soon.” His gaze shifts from his feet past her and to the desert before them. “Not that there is anything out here to run towards by the looks of it.”

Sighing, he turns back to her. “Why do you live here anyway? Didn’t you say there was a town nearby?” 

“It’s several kilometers south of here,” snaps Rey, insulted that he would take issue with her living situation given she did rescue him. “And besides, Niima Outpost is not exactly the safest place for someone like me.”

“Oh...um...sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I guess I just meant why live out here alone?” 

“I’m waiting for my family to come back.”

“I see.” He shuffles his feet in the sand before continuing, “When will they be back?”

“I don’t know.”

Poe nods as a melancholy expression crosses his face.

Rey’s features relax slightly. She misjudged him. He wasn’t trying to be rude. Like her, he was simply looking for any scrap of belonging. 

Several seconds of silence pass between them before he speaks again.

“Well, I guess for now at least, we have each other.”

Her lips part slightly and she stares at him. Poe might be the strangest person she had ever met. Growing up alone on Jakku had conditioned her to expect the worst in people. Look out for yourself and survive. That was the only truth out here. Yet, from the moment she stumbled across his unconscious body, something had pushed her to continually defy those expected norms. 

“So, what do you normally do during the day out here?” he asks when she doesn’t say anything.

“I usually head out to the Starship Graveyard and try to find old parts to sell.”

“Okay...is that your plan for today?” 

“I guess.” 

Truthfully, she hadn’t given it much thought. Despite raking in a haul of portions yesterday, it probably wouldn’t hurt to try to salvage more parts. She still hasn’t come up with a good plan for what to do about Poe. 

Rey steps inside the AT-AT and begins rummaging around to make ready to leave. Poe follows her inside and watches her intently. 

“Can I help?” he asks as she prepares another portion of bread. 

“Help with what?”

“I don’t know...help you find parts or whatever.” He waves his hands in the air in a nondescript pattern.

“Oh I’m fine,” she responds quickly, uneasy about the idea of accepting help. 

The last time she agreed to let someone help her did not end well. Finding a crashed ship with a working reactor, Rey had let two other scavengers, Devi and Strunk, assist her in repairing the ship back to working condition. After significant effort, they were able to get the ship flying. Unfortunately, when they went to Niima Outpost to sell it, Devi and Strunk took off and departed Jakku, leaving Rey alone and with no ship to sell. 

“Okay well, what am I supposed to do then? Stay here?” He sighs. “Besides, maybe if I come with you, it will help jog my memory about how I got here.” 

She frowns. Maybe he does have a point. Plus, the sooner he is gone, the sooner she can rid herself of this weird nagging pull that seems to keep her tethered to him. 

“Okay,” she says, handing him a half portion to eat. “You can come, but just so we are clear, I don’t need your help.” 

His lips slowly bend upwards into a short smile. “Of course.” 

For some inexplicable reason, her cheeks flush and she huffs defiantly. “Come on let’s go,” she mumbles, finishing her half portion, grabbing her tools and heading outside. 

Rey straps her tools and quarterstaff to the speeder by the time Poe finishes his portion and joins her outside. Putting her hands on her hips, she suddenly remembers a problem from the previous day (There have been a lot of those since he showed up.): Her speeder isn’t exactly built to support two people. 

Sighing, she hops on the vehicle and scoots forward on the seat as much as she can. 

“Well...” she exhales nervously. “Are you just going to stand there or can we get going?” She nods at the back of the seat behind her. 

“Oh...um...right.”

Poe takes a few steps over to the side of the speeder and tries lifting himself up. Wincing once again in pain, he finally swings his leg over the back of the seat such that he is situated behind her. 

“What do I…?”

“You can hold onto the back paneling.”

Unused to their closeness, she takes a deep breath in, wraps her hair and covers her eyes with her makeshift goggles. Reaching over her shoulder, she holds out a spare piece of fabric she had tucked around her waist away while inside. “You’re going to want to wrap this around your head...to keep out the sand.”

“Oh okay.” 

He reaches forward and takes the fabric. She turns her head and tries not to laugh as he fumbles with the cloth trying to wrap it around his head. He looks absolutely ridiculous when he finally gets the fabric wrapped and clumsily tied off. Shaking her head, she turns around and starts the engine. 

“Here we go.”

Before he has any time to react, she pulls down on the throttle and the speeder takes off. 

Rey can’t help but smile and let out a muffled laugh when Poe yelps out in surprise. 

***

Arriving at the Starship Graveyard, Rey turns off the speeder and quickly hops off. The trip over had been fine enough, but she was still a bit uneasy about being so close to another person, especially with her back to him. 

Poe dismounts the speeder gingerly and with purpose. His eyes grow wide as he takes in the sight of the Star Destroyers as well as the other ships surrounding the area. 

“Wow this is crazy,” he says, following her into the ship. “Some battle must have really taken place here to leave a wreckage like this behind. Were you here when it happened?”

“No. This is all from the end of the Rebellion that happened a few decades ago — or so I’m told anyway. There are a lot of theories floating around Niima Outpost about what happened and why.” She walks along the inside of the ship to the main engineering section. That’s where she might get lucky and find something worth salvaging.

“Rebellion. That sounds familiar. Some big conflict for the fate of the galaxy right?”

“You got it.” 

“Ha see, I do know some things,” he laughs. 

Rey keeps her back to him so he can’t see the small grin that briefly crosses her face.

“I’m going to go up there,” she says, pointing to one of the engine compartments about 3 meters up. “You can um...stay here and keep a look out.”

“What am I supposed to look out for?”

“Anything,” She calls out over her shoulder as she begins to climb up to the engine compartment. 

They spend several hours traversing the wreckage looking for parts. Rey goes about her business as she normally would while Poe follows her around. Occasionally, he asks questions or makes small-talk, but otherwise he silently observes her work. Being watched is a bit unsettling if she is being honest.

Being watched on Jakku was never a good thing. Either people want to steal from you, hurt you, enslave you, or things far worse. Nothing good ever came from being watched. It’s why Rey had done her best to not be noticed over the years. 

She eventually assigns Poe the task of holding onto the salvaged parts while she works. Thus far the day has not proven as lucrative as her last time out scavenging. Rey was able to find a few dented impellers that may get a half portion for if she’s lucky. Several rusted bearings and half-working filters may be worth a portion if Unkar is feeling generous...probably not.

Scouring in disappointment, she sets off to climb up the large pillar column which has broken off from the main engine. If she can get high enough, maybe there are some parts in the upper engine area that would be valuable. Rey is acutely aware of Poe watching her as she climbs higher and higher towards the upper engine area. Reaching the top, she must be at least 10-15 meters from where she started. 

Exploring the upper engine area, Rey is only able to find three pistons that appear to be worth anything. Less than ideal, but she should probably be happy they don’t appear to be rusted, dented, or broken. Returning to the column she had climbed to get up, Rey looks down to see Poe sitting on the durasteel patiently waiting below.

 _Stars, he is so weird._

“Hey down there,” she yells. His head pops up and he rises to his feet. “Catch these yes?” She holds up the pistons in her hand.

“You got it.”

One-by-one, Rey tosses the pistons down toward him. Demonstrating surprisingly good hand-eye coordination, he catches each of the three pistons easily with both hands. Once she sees Poe give her the thumbs up that the pistons have made it down safely, she begins her slow descent down the column. As she nears the bottom, a few meters off the ground, a normally sure-footed Rey slips on a loose panel. Tightening her grip, she tries to maintain her balance but instead, she swings awkwardly and falls backward. Closing her eyes, flinching, and expecting a hard collision with the metal below, Rey is surprised when she impacts a softer target.

Opening her eyes, she finds herself in Poe’s arms as he lowers her to the ground. 

He had caught her. 

“Woah, careful there,” he says with a concerned look on his face. “You okay?”

Rey is frozen looking up at him. She hates being touched unexpectedly. Especially like this with him so...so...around her? At the same time, her stomach lurches in a way she can’t explain. It’s definitely not hunger. Coming back to her senses, Rey’s face heats up despite the sun getting lower and she frowns.

“I told you I don’t need help!” she snaps angrily. Kicking her feet and standing up, she gives him a little shove away from her. Turning around away from him, she picks up her collection of parts for the day and stomps off. 

“Sorry...I just thought...”

“I’m fine,” she interrupts. “Let’s go.” 

They head back to her speeder in silence and Rey tries very hard to stop her brain from replaying the moment in her head. Packing the parts, she hops on the speeder, covers her face, and waits for Poe to do the same. Just like earlier, it takes him a bit to get situated behind her. His closeness to her back, a dozen centimeters or so, does nothing to abate her anxiety. Shaking her head, she starts the speeder, cranks down the throttle and tries to focus on making it home before dark. 

***

When they arrive home, Rey sets to the task of cleaning and storing the parts she scavenged.

Poe remains outside, taking a seat in the sand while watching the sun dip below the horizon. 

Neither of them had said a word since Rey rebuked him earlier. Perhaps she was a little harsh in the moment. He did startle her though, holding her like that...what was he thinking? Preparing a portion, she makes her way outside to where he is seated.

“Here,” she says meekly, holding out the half portion as a kind of peace offering. 

“Thanks.”

He gives her a short smile as he takes the piece of bread; their incident from earlier long out of his mind by the looks of it. They eat in silence, watching the last few minutes of the sun setting. Despite this being their third day together (two if you exclude the one where he was unconscious) she still struggles with basic social interactions. How do you have a conversation with a man who has no memories of who he is, where he’s from, or how he got here? It also didn’t help that the last people she kept around for several days (Devi and Strunk) betrayed her.

“So…” she starts, “Did going out today help job any memories?”

“Kind of? Maybe? I don’t know.”

Seeing her searching for more details he continues, “I wouldn’t call them memories exactly. Maybe more like feelings?”

“How so?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. I just felt a warm familiarity being out there with the different ships. The various parts you salvaged today also felt familiar. I mean that not in a specific way, but more a general feeling of belonging.” His eyes shift from her to his hands folded out in front of him. “I don’t know, sounds crazy right?” 

“I don’t think that’s crazy,” she admits. Given everything that has happened over the last three days, why should she? 

“I found you unconscious at a crashed ship. It stands to reason maybe you were the pilot and that might explain the familiar feeling you have around other ships.”

“Maybe.” 

Rey once again doesn’t mention the ship was a TIE fighter. Part of her hopes she is wrong. If Poe was the pilot of the TIE fighter that means he is most likely part of the First Order. Which would be awful.

“Do you think anyone is looking for me?” he asks. 

“I’m not sure.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking...” His voice trails off and he has an uneasy expression on his face. “How do you know your family is coming back? How would I know if anyone is looking for me?”

Rey frowns. No one had ever asked her a question like that before. Truthfully, it was something she tried not to think about a lot.

“I’m not sure I do,” she answers softly. “I guess...I guess I have hope?”

He’s staring at her now and it’s making her uncomfortable. Ducking her head, she kicks some of the sand at her feet. 

“I think I should probably go then,” he announces. 

“What?”

“Well, I’ve already taken up space in your home and eaten some of your food, I don’t want to be a bother. Besides, I can’t stay here forever right?”

“You can’t leave. That’s just stupid. You’re still not fully healed. Also, where would you go? How would you survive without food and water? There are also slavers and bounty hunters who roam the desert. What happens if they catch you?” The words are out of her mouth rapid-fire before she can think twice. 

What the _kriffing hell_ is wrong with her? Why can’t she let the man be?

Seeing his eyes widen, she flounders in response. “Of course you can leave if you want. I um...I just meant it’s not safe. And as you have seen, we uh, don’t have very hospitable weather here. Also, you know there isn’t much to eat, so um…yeah.”

“Okay…”

“We can go to Niima tomorrow,” she states hastily. “I need to sell the parts we found today and we can get the latest gossip from the folks in town.”

She quickly gets up and heads back inside the AT-AT before he can respond. By the time he comes back inside, she has put away her plate and is marking another scratch into her wall. 

“What’s that?” Poe asks. 

“Just recording the days I’ve been here.”

He nods, taking in the expanse of the marks on the wall. “That’s um...that’s a long time.” 

“Mhm,” she grunts, settling down in her sleeping area. Her quarterstaff is still nearby, but Rey allows herself to relax a bit. 

Poe slowly lowers himself down and takes up the same space on the floor as before. “Goodnight Rey,” he murmurs softly from across the room.

***

Several hours later, Rey wakes up at the sound of Poe’s voice. 

“No, no, no, no!”

“Aaagghh!”

Looking over, he is still asleep on the floor... 

“No, no, stop!”

“Aaaaaaaaahh!”

She gets up and makes her way over to him. He’s sweating profusely and flailing about. 

“...will not be intimidated by you.”

“NOOOOOOO!”

He appears to be having a nightmare of sorts. Having her fair share of those over the years she can definitely sympathize. This one seems particularly violent. “Poe,” she whispers, kneeling down next to him.

“...my droid.”

“Aaagghh!”

“Poe?” she tries again. 

It’s no use though. He continues to toss and turn aggressively while yelling out in apparent pain. The look on his face is downright terrifying and his breathing is extremely erratic. She needs to do something before this gets any worse. Taking a deep breath, she reaches out and shakes his shoulder. “Poe — wake up!”

His eyes snap open and his hand comes up, forcibly grabbing her arm.

Rey reacts without a second thought, she quickly pushes back on his hand at his wrist, pinning it down. She brings her other arm up and across his neck, pressing her forearm against his throat. His eyes are listless and he is still squirming beneath her hold. 

“Poe, stop!” she yells. 

After a few moments, color returns to his eyes and his breathing slows. His eyes frantically search the room before returning to her own. His languid body sinks on the floor and he has a look of pure fear on his face.

“Rey, I…”

She slowly releases her hold on him.

“Rey, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“It’s okay,” she sighs, dropping down and sitting on her feet. “You um...you weren’t yourself.” 

“Did I...did I hurt you?” 

“No, I’m fine.” When her answer does nothing to abate the panicked look on his face, she reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder. “Really, I’m fine. You’re fine.” She gives him a short smile and squeezes his shoulder encouragingly. “Everything is okay.”

He nods and leans his head back, staring at the ceiling while taking deep breaths. She wants to ask him what he saw but isn’t sure whether that would upset him more. Reaching up, he places his hand on top of her own. “Thank you,” he whispers, turning his head slightly to face her. 

The feeling of his hand on her own causes Rey’s breath to hitch. Without thinking her fingers begin to intertwine with his. Darting between their adjoined hands and his eyes, her pupils grow wider. _Kriffing hell._ What is she doing? And why does it feel so…. _nice?_

Taking a deep breath and squeezing her lips together she lets go of his hand. 

“Should probably get some sleep,” she mumbles, looking away awkwardly. 

“Um...Right.”

Standing up, she returns to her sleep area on the other side of the room. She settles down in the makeshift bed and tries to ignore the strange feeling in her stomach. 

_One day at a time_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. 
> 
> I'm thinking of making this fic only 3 chapters for now and maybe coming back to it later since I already have too many WIPs. Let me know what you think.


	3. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Poe go to Niima Outpost to trade with Unkar Plutt. An unexpected visitor changes everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so you're going to have to go with some stuff here as I try to bring everything together.   
> I hope this doesn't feel too disjointed.

Rey and Poe are seated on her speeder zipping across the desert dunes toward Niima Outpost. 

They had somehow managed to get a few hours of sleep after the incident last night. In the morning, she asked him about his nightmares while they ate their customary half portions. Unfortunately, he didn’t remember much, just bits and pieces. He thinks he was aboard a ship of some kind. It was dark. And pain. Lot’s of pain. That’s the strongest memory he has — flashes of pain from all sides surrounding and consuming him. The way he describes it is terrifying and part of her hopes they never figure out what it really means.

As a result of the incident, Poe was also more reserved this morning. His previously carefree attitude was replaced with something more guarded. Rey suspects part of it also has to do with their physical dust-up last night. He apologized again and looked genuinely sick at the thought that he might have hurt her.

It was sweet, even if it was a bit annoying. She was a grown woman who fought off traders, scavengers and slavers a million times worse than Poe. One man having a nightmare and getting a little out of hand wasn’t an issue. Besides, she knows he didn’t mean to force her to restrain him.

By the time they arrive at Niima Outpost it’s almost midday. They dismount the speeder and Rey gathers the parts they are here to sell. With any luck, they will be able to get a few portions and maybe jog Poe’s memory a bit before calling it a day. More than a few eyes watch them as they begin to make their way into the settlement. 

_ Kriff. _

She should have probably thought about this sooner. Outsiders in Niima tend to stick out and Rey arriving with a companion, especially a man, is even more out of the ordinary.

“Just ignore the looks and stay close.” she mutters to Poe. 

He nods silently and follows her to Unkar Plutt’s blockhouse. The line to wait is fairly short and when it’s finally her turn, Rey lifts up the parts she scavenged and tosses them on the counter. 

“What have we got here?” growls Unkar as he begins to sort through her haul. “Junk. Junk. Worthless junk.” He sighs. “I would think you would know better than to bring me a haul full of so much bantha fodder.” 

Rey furrows her brow and bites her lip to stop herself from saying something she will regret. The last thing she needs is to give Unkar an excuse to short her even more portions. 

His eyes drift to Poe standing beside her. “Who’s that?” he asks.

“No one.”

“Doesn’t look like no one. Hey you there, who are you and what’s your business?”

Poe looks nervously at Rey and then to Unkar. “I um...I’m Poe. I’m just...visiting?”

“Yeah right, try again. No one comes around here to visit, especially not for this scruffy-looking scavenger scum here,” Unkar says pointing at Rey. 

Clenching her fists, she bites down on her tongue once again and tries not to give Unkar the satisfaction of seeing her reaction. What she doesn’t count on, however, is Poe’s response. 

Taking three steps towards the counter, Poe reaches across and grabs Unkar’s arm. “Don’t...talk about her like that,” he hisses angrily.

_ Oh no. _

“What the kriff do you think…” roars Unkar.

“Stop it!” 

Rey quickly grabs Poe by the shoulders and pushes him back several paces from the counter before Unkar can do anything they would really regret. Looking at Poe now, he has a fire in his eyes she has never seen before. But by the time he turns to her, it’s gone, his usual soft gaze in its place. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles looking down.

She nods and turns back to Unkar. 

_ One problem at a time _ . 

“Don’t worry about him,” she says, stepping back up to the counter. “How much for the parts?”

The junk boss is fuming and eyes her for several seconds before answering. “For your friend’s insolence, you can have one portion for all of this.” He slaps a single packet of polystarch portion bread on the counter. 

Rey sighs. She knows this is the best she could hope for. They should probably just be grateful Unkar didn’t have them immediately killed. Then again, if she dies she can’t scavenge for him anymore. Despite his insults, Rey is still one of the best scavengers around. Poe, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Fine,” she grumbles, taking the portion and walking away. 

“Closed now,” Unkar announces as he dumps the parts into his stall and pulls down a metal covering over the counter window. 

“I’m sorry,” apologies Poe as she walks past him. 

He follows her to one of the tents where she takes a seat and begins to fill up her canteen with water. He takes a seat beside her. 

“What were you thinking going after Unkar like that?” she huffs. “Do you have any idea how much danger you put us in with a stunt like that?”

“I’m sorry...I just thought...he shouldn’t talk about you like that.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to it.” She takes a drink of the water from her canteen and hands it Poe.

He takes a drink and then wipes his lips on his sleeve. “Yeah, well maybe you shouldn’t be.”

“What does it even matter?”

“It matters because you’re kind, smart, definitely know your way around mechanics, and clearly know how to protect yourself. You shouldn’t have to take his shit” Poe holds the canteen out in front of himself to pass it back to her. 

Rey’s brain short circuits and she completely forgets about the canteen. He’s looking at her with a neutral expression like he didn’t just give her the four best compliments she has ever received. She’s staring at him and her mouth is ajar in complete shock. How could he say such nice things about her so easily? Like it was nothing? He doesn’t even know her, not really anyway. She tries to speak, but she stutters and no words come out. 

What does she even say in response to that?

She suddenly feels her face getting warmer despite them sitting under a tent for cover from the sun and her stomach is once again rumbling in a way that isn’t hunger. 

Poe tilts his head curiously and shakes the canteen he’s holding between them. “Rey?”

“Yeah...um...thanks…” 

Taking a large gulp from the canteen, she splashes some of the water on her face. She fills it back up again before sealing it shut and standing up. “We should probably head back.” 

They walk back to her speeder in silence. Tomorrow they would have to wake up early and spend every minute of daylight they could scavenging. Spending an entire day scavenging to not earn enough food for the day was exhausting. One portion on top of the five she had back home might be able to last them three days if they were lucky.

_ Wait....them? _

Since when did it become  _ them _ ? 

Her thoughts are interrupted when she hears a series of faint beeps in the distance growing louder. It sounds like...binary? Rey turns in the direction the sound is coming from and spots a small spherical orange droid rolling their way at full speed followed by a dark-skinned man running behind it directly towards them. The droid is beeping rapidly, it’s saying…

“Master Poe?” 

The droid zips past her and rolls circles around Poe’s feet. 

Rey looks at him confused and swings her quarterstaff from her back into her hands. 

“What’s going on here?” She asks, holding her quarterstaff out in front of the dark-skinned man, warning him not to get any closer.

“I don’t know,” shrugs Poe. 

“Poe, Poe, thank the stars we found you,” says the other man. He takes a step towards them but Rey holds up the staff once more. 

“Hold up, who are you?”

“I’m Finn.” He points to the droid still running circles around Poe’s feet. “That’s BB-8, he’s Poe’s droid and we’ve been searching for him for days! Who are you?” 

“I’m Rey,” she answers, lowering her staff. The man, Finn, approaches slowly.

“Poe, what’s going on here?” Finn asks, confused. 

“I...I don’t know…”

Rey takes a step toward Poe defensively. “I found him unconscious a few days ago. He um...he doesn’t seem to have any memories from what happened before he crashed here.”

“So wait, you don’t know me?” 

Poe shakes his head. “Sorry no. Am I supposed to?”

“Hell yes, we escaped together!”

BB-8 beeps out a series of concerning sounds.

“Sorry little one, I don’t remember you either,” he says to the droid.  _ Well, that’s new,  _ Rey thinks. Poe can apparently understand binary. BB-8’s head sinks and lets out a sad set of beeps. 

“You know me though?”

“Yeah,” nods Finn with an ever-growing look of concern on his face. “We should probably have this conversation somewhere else though.” 

Rey leads them back to another tent in Niima Outpost and Finn begins to tell their story.

Poe’s last name was Dameron. Poe Dameron. He was a member of the Resistance sent here for intelligence critical to stopping the First Order — a map to Luke Skywalker. He apparently hid the map with his droid (BB-8) but not before he was captured by the First Order. They had tortured him for the droid’s location, but Finn (a former stormtrooper) broke him free and they escaped back to Jakku in a TIE fighter. (The one she found.) Finn was thrown from the ship during the rough landing and found BB-8 wandering the desert. The droid recognized Finn wearing Poe’s jacket and the two had been looking for him ever since. 

Thank the stars Poe wasn’t First Order then. He was a Resistance fighter. A real-life Resistance fighter. 

Rey looks over at him and Poe has an equally shocked expression on his face as he tries to absorb everything Finn told them. 

“Most importantly, we need to get off Jakku,” Finn adds. “The First Order is looking for us big time and in your own words, BB-8 needs to get back to the Resistance ASAP.” 

“There are a few ships on the edge of the settlement here, but I doubt you are going to have the parts or currency to trade for a ride off this rock,” states Rey. “That’s about all I can offer as far as help. I need to be getting back home before it gets dark.”

“Wait what?”

She stands up and begins to walk away. Part of her was happy Poe found Finn and BB-8. He found where he belonged. They can help get him back to the Resistance and then they will figure out how to fix his memories. It also means things would be easier on her food situation. She could stretch six portions over almost a full week instead of a few days. 

Of course, it also means Poe would leave her. Just like her parents. 

Rey didn’t want to admit it, but she had grown accustomed to having Poe around these past few days. She would miss him. Furrowing her brow, she blinks back the tiniest of tears at the corners of her eyelids. 

“Woah, hold up,” calls Poe as he rises and takes a few quick steps to catch up to her. “Where are you going? 

“Home…”

“You’re not coming with us?”

“No, why would I?” She glances down at her boots and kicks some of the dirt. 

“Look here, I may not know many things right now but I meant what I said the other day — we have each other. I know you are waiting for your family, but based on the number of marks on your wall, I’m not sure they are coming back.” She opens her mouth to object but he holds up his hands defensively and continues. “If the First Order is supposedly this bad and the Resistance is this the only thing that can stop them, why not come with us? You could make a real difference.”

When she doesn’t answer, his expression shifts to something shyer. “I want you to come with us.”

His admission hits her like a punch to the gut.

No one had ever wanted her.

Ever. 

She opens her mouth, but once again she finds herself at a loss for words. “Poe, I…” 

They are interrupted when a squad of Stormtroopers suddenly comes running through the settlement. “Fan out, look for the traitors and find the droid!” 

Finn stands up and walks toward them. “Time to go. Rey, where are the ships you mentioned?”

“Uh a few meters south of here, that way.”

“Okay, let’s split up so we don’t draw too much attention. You two go along the east side of the encampment. I’ll take BB-8 and head west. We’ll meet you at the ships and get out of here.” Before either Rey or Poe have a chance to object, Finn is jogging off with BB-8 beeping well wishes to them at his heels. 

“Let’s go,” Poe says, walking briskly between the stalls and ducking his head away from the Stormtroopers causing trouble.

“Poe, I…”

She is once again disrupted when a pair of Stormtroopers from the main squad begin to head in their direction. They duck into a small seamstress’ stall to stay out of view and Rey is suddenly acutely aware of how close they are standing together. 

“Please. Come with us,” he asks again. 

She’s trapped, cornered between her logical brain telling her this is ridiculous and she has her own problems, her own life to think about and...this  _ feeling _ . The same nagging feeling that wouldn’t let her leave Poe lying unconscious in the desert. The same feeling that was concerned when she thought he had left. The same feeling that somehow rebuked all her attempts to separate herself from him. 

It was beyond stupid. 

It’s just a feeling. 

Why then did it...feel...so  _ right _ ?

Rey nods slowly. “Okay.”

Poe grins and once the Stormtroopers pass, they quickly leave the cover of the merchant stall. 

The duo breaks out into a full sprint when approaching the gathering of ships (you could hardly call it a spaceport). Finn and BB-8 are running straight at them with several Stormtroopers hot on their heels firing their blasters.

“We got to go!” yells Finn. “Which ship are we taking?”

Rey points to the one in the best condition. “That one.”

As they run towards the ship, a loud sound thunders overhead and the lasers from a TIE fighter explode the ship into a thousand pieces. 

“Guess we’re taking this one then,” shouts Finn as they turn on a dime and sprint to an older ship parked nearby.

They run up the ramp but the door is locked. Rey quickly bypasses the security console and the trio (along with BB-8) head into the cockpit. 

Finn is breathing heavy. “Okay okay, Poe you got this, you're a pilot, you can get us out of here right?”

“Um…” Poe says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to fly a ship…”

Finn throws his hands up in the air. “OH YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!”

BB-8 beeps several expletives about Poe not remembering how to fly that she would rather not repeat.

“I can try flying,” Rey says decidedly, already hopping in the pilot’s seat and firing up the ship’s engines. “Never flown a ship like this before, but it can’t be that different from the simulations I’ve practiced on right?”

Poe takes a seat in the co-pilot’s chair next to her while Finn storms off to man the gun turrets shouting how they were all going to die. 

Navigating the ship through the Starship Graveyard, she tries to shake the TIE fighters chasing them. Finn manages to shoot one down, but two still pursue them at increasing speed. The TIE fighters damage their shields and engines, causing their ship to lose speed. If this keeps up, they are surely going to be shot out of the air. 

Furrowing her brow, she looks at Poe sitting next to her. It was a stupid idea. Very stupid. But it was the only thing that she could think of. 

“Hey, think you can pilot the ship for a few minutes while I try to fix the engines?” she asks nervously.

“Me?”

“Yeah, Finn said you were a pilot. I just need you to keep her steady for a few minutes.” 

She stands up and ushers him over to the pilot seat. “That’s the throttle, control yoke, gauge sensors, and speed brake handle,” she says pointing at the controls. “Just keep her steady while I try and get this fixed.” Rey darts out of the cockpit before he can protest. 

“What the hell is going on over there?!!” yells Finn as the ship continues to slow down and remains on a straight course. 

“Working on it!” Rey yells back. 

Arriving at the engine room, she discovers they are in much worse shape than she imagined. Both of the engine auxiliary power generators are damaged. There is no way she can repair them quickly, let alone while the ship is flying. Making her way back to the cockpit, she finds Poe still seated in the pilot seat. He glances back and sees the look of pure dread on her face. 

“What is it?”

“We’re screwed,” she laments softly, “power generators for the engines are gone beyond repair.” 

“Wait what does that mean?!” Finn calls over the comms. “Hello, anyone down there?” 

Neither Rey nor Poe responds. She has a sinking feeling in her stomach. How had it come to this? How could she be so wrong about going with them when it felt so right at the time? She looks down and real tears begin to swell as she rubs her eyes. She doesn’t want to die. 

A loud sound lurches through the ship and the lights in the cockpit go out. Looking up suddenly, Rey finds Poe rapidly running his hands over the various controls. There are more odd sounds in the ship as different systems begin to lose power. 

“Poe, what…?”

“You said the problem is with the engine power generators right? So all we need...is power from elsewhere.” 

She sits up in the co-pilot seat and watches him work at a frantic pace. Slowly, the ship begins to pick up speed. 

“You’re diverting power from other systems,” she whispers, finally recognizing what he’s doing. 

“Yep.”

Poe pushes down further on the throttle and the ship rockets forward faster than before. He drops them into a barrel roll and performs several other maneuvers she could only dream of attempting. He flicks off the power to what shields remain and re-routes the power to the engines. 

“Poe, don’t you think we need the shields!” she yells. The TIE fighters are still following them despite his best attempts to shake them. 

“Don’t need shields if we’re dead,” he quips back over his shoulder.

“Without shields we may end up dead, did you ever think of that!”

He glances over at her with a giant grin on his face. His eyes are fully ablaze, a focus she only saw once before when he grabbed Unkar back at Niima Outpost. 

“Only if we get hit,” he winks. 

_ Oh for fucks sake! _

He pulls the ship into the wreckage of one of the Star Destroyers as Rey, Finn and BB-8 all yell out nervously. The TIEs follow closely, firing rapidly and trying to take them out. Thankfully, Poe was right and he has avoided getting hit...for now at least. He snakes through the debris using increasingly risky maneuvers until they begin to approach a blocked off passage ahead. Or so she thought at least. Poe keeps barreling straight ahead. 

“Poe, what are you doing?” 

“Poe what gives?” yells Finn over comms. 

“Do you trust me?” 

“Poe?”

“Trust me,” he says so softly it might as well be a whisper. 

They are no more than 15 seconds away from crashing, she is sure of it. There is no way he can get them out of this. Right?

She nods anyway. 

_ 10 seconds. _

“POE!” she yells.

Finn equally shouts over the comm system. “COME ON POE!” 

BB-8 beeps so frantically Rey doesn’t have time to interpret what he says.

Poe chuckles and rips the control yoke and throttle at the same time. The ship violently rolls horizontally and barely zooms through the narrow space between the Star Destroyer engine piping. Chunks of durasteel scrap on one another by their ship somehow manages to get across in one piece. The TIE fighters following them are not so lucky. They crash against the debris. 

“WAHOO!” he screams, pumping his fist as he steers the ship up towards the atmosphere. 

Finn and Rey both equally shout in joy. 

“Dude, that was amazing,” laughs Finn, returning to the cockpit. “That was some of the best flying I’ve ever seen. I guess you really can pilot anything!”

BB-8 beeps a rapid set of praises as well while he rolls in circles.

“What did he say?” asks Finn, the only one among them who doesn’t understand binary, as he sinks into the seat behind Rey. 

She laughs. “BB-8 said, of course, we should expect nothing less from the best pilot in the Resistance.” 

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“How did you manage to fly anyway? I thought you said you didn’t know how to pilot the ship?”

“I didn’t?” he answers bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know, I just kinda stopped thinking about it and let it happen.”

“Well, I’m sure glad you did,” sighs Finn. “I thought for sure we were goners.”

Poe brings them up out of the atmosphere and into space. Rey’s eyes widen the expanse of it. The endless darkness has a kind of soothing feeling to it. It’s hard to believe that in a span of four days, her life has been upended so completely. She can’t help the short smile that grows at the edge of her lips as she watches Poe fidgeting with the controls. Maybe he was right.

It was just a feeling — but maybe she could make a difference.

Settling into the copilot seat, Rey watches Jakku grow smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappears completely.

_ One day at a time, _ she reminds herself. 

_ One day at a time. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. I know a lot of you want to see this fic continue, but I literally haven't written anything in two weeks due to anxiety from the election and possibly exposing myself to COVID-19. So rather than just updating this fic and letting it sit unfinished forever, I'm going to end it here. I hope to come back at some point and either add to this fic or make a new fic within the same series to continue the story. 
> 
> Thank you all again for reading. I hope you enjoyed this concept. <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Again, I would love to hear your thoughts.


End file.
